Georgia Power Co. v. Jones

The trial court erred in allowing the plaintiffs to seek business losses associated with a bed and breakfast that they intended to build and operate on partially condemned property, since the business was not established at the time of the taking.

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In November 2002, Georgia Power Company filed a condemnation action as to 7.465 acres of property owned by Douglas and Joan Jones. A special master awarded the Joneses $26,000 as the actual fair market value of the condemned property and $5,880 for consequential damages. The Joneses filed an exception to the special master’s award, and a jury trial was conducted in September 2004. The jury awarded the Joneses $1,003,500. Georgia Power appeals, contending the trial court made several erroneous evidentiary rulings. Because we find the Joneses were precluded from seeking business losses separately from the lost value to their land due to the condemnation, and the court abused its discretion in admitting speculative evidence on such business losses, we reverse. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the evidence showed that the Joneses have operated a bed and breakfast inn in Midtown Atlanta since 1989. After searching for rural property for a few years, they purchased 162 acres of property in March 1997 with the intention of building and operating a second bed and breakfast in the North Georgia mountains. The mountain property had space for a lodge and six cottages, nature trails, and a pond, and offered a 360 degree view of a valley and a wilderness area. The Joneses built a road to the property and began constructing a lodge in April 1999.

In the spring of 2001, Georgia Power notified the Joneses that it intended to seek an easement across their property for a 500 KV power line, to be supported by at least two tall towers. The Joneses were concerned about the negative impact of the power line on their bed and breakfast business, so they delayed the development of other improvements, such as building the cottages on the property or creating the pond. They continued to build the lodge, however, and it was substantially complete by the fall of 2002.

Georgia Power Co. v. Jones

The trial court erred in allowing the plaintiffs to seek business losses associated with a bed and breakfast that they intended to build and operate on partially condemned property, since the business was not established at the time of the taking.

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